Illuminated sunshade assembly



Feb. 17, 1970 G'.'K. JAcOVIDEs,

' ;1Lnummm su'NsfiAbE ASSEMBLY Filed Jan 19,1968

Georgios K. Jocovides INVENTOR.

United States Patent M ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for shading a portion of a missile from the sun or silhouetting a portion of a missile. at night to facilitate missile setup. A sunshade and light assembly are temporarily joined to the missile during setup and are removed from the missile before launch.

DEDICATORY CLAUSE The invention described herein may be manufactured, used, and licensed by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various missile laying procedures require that the 'missile be set up through the use of a theodolite. When using autoreflection procedures, a light beam is directed at a prism located in the missile. The prism is viewed through a small window in the side of the missile. If the missile is properly set up, the light beam will be reflected by the prism and returned to the theodolite. If the light beam is not properly reflected, the missiles orientation is adjusted until the reflected light beam is received by the theodolite.

At certain times of the day, early morning and late afternoon, the autoreflection procedures are hampered by the suns rays overpowering the light beam from the theodolite. Missile laying during these times is very difficult or impossible. Problems also exist when the missile is to be set up at night. The small window in the side of the missile is very difiicult to locate in the dark. The use of a flashlight or spotlight to locate the missile window is forbidden during a blackout condition. During this time, missile setup is virtually impossible.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a device to shade the window of the missile during setup and to enable location of the window during a blackout condition.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The instant invention is used to facilitate autoreflection procedures when a missile is in the launch position. The sunshade assembly is temporarily attached to the missile skin prior to setup and is removed after the missile is properly aligned. A piece of plastic is shaped so as to shade the window in the side of the missile from the suns rays. A light assembly is mounted on the sunshade so that the sunshade is illuminated about its edges. Edge illumination enables location of the shade during night.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the sunshade assembly with a portion of the top cut away;

FIGURE 2 is a view of the sunshade assembly as it would be mounted on a missile.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGURE 1, sunshade 2 is formed of an A 3,496,347 Patented Feb. 17, 1970 acrylic plastic such a Plexiglas. An adapter plate 4 is attached to the sunshade 2 at end 6 by conventional means. Spring tension clips 8 are mounted on adapter plate 4. The spring tension clips mate with holes 10 in the missile skin to secure the sunshade assembly 12 to the missile 14 (FIGURE 2). Battery 24 is connected in series with lamp 16 and switch 18. Lamp 16 is mounted in lamp housing 17 and is controlled by toggle switch 18. Lamp 16 is mounted in housing 17 such that when housing 18 is secured to sunshade 2, lamp 1-6 inserts into hole 20. Lamp 16 inserts into hole 20 only to the point where the filament of the lamp is aligned with the edge of the hole. Thus, the light emitted by the lamp is directed almost entirely into the edges of the sunshade. The sunshade, being made of Plexiglas (polymethyl methacrylate), transmits the light to the edge denoted generally by numeral 22. A red lamp is used for lamp 16. Red light emitted from the sunshade assembly would be almost unnoticeable at night. The sunshade assembly is, therefore, adaptable for use at night, particularly during a blackout. The outer area of the sunshade is opaque. Accordingly, no light is transmitted therethrough. Anyone viewing the illuminated sunshade as it would be seen from a theodolite would see essentially the outline of the sunshade. A lens may be placed over lamp 16 to direct the light therefrom entirely into the sunshade.

FIGURE 2 shows the illuminated sunshade assembly 12 as it would be mounted on a missile. The illuminated sunshade assembly mounts around window 26 and shades the window from the sun. The assembly is held to the missile by spring tension clips 8. After missile set up is accomplished, the illuminated sunshade assembly is removed by pulling on lanyard 28 which passes through lifting handle 30. After the assembly is disengaged from the missile, it can be safely lowered to the ground to be reused.

While a specific embodiment has been described in detail, it is obvious that numerous changes may be made without departing from the general principles and scope of the invention. As examples, the adapter plate 4 could take any form that would facilitate the attachment of the sunshade assembly to an objector. Switch 18 and battery 24 could be located remotely from the sunshade assembly, power being supplied to lamp 16 through lanyard 28. Accordingly, the scope of this invention is to be limited only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An illuminated sunshade assembly comprising: a hollow wedge having sides of finite thickness, said hollow wedge having two generally triangular shaped sides and a generally rectangular shaped top having a perforation therethrough; an outward extending flange about an end of said hollow wedge formed by an edge of each of said sides and an edge of said top; means for illuminating said hollow wedge through said perforation so said hollow wedge may be seen at night when viewed from the hollowed side of said hollow wedge.

2. An illuminated sunshade assembly as set forth in claim 1 further comprising at least one spring tension clip attached to said flange for mating said assembly with a missile.

3. An illuminated sunshade assembly as set forth in claim 3 wherein said hollow wedge is made from a single sheet of clear plastic.

4. An illuminated sunshade assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein said clear plastic is polymethyl methacrylate.

5. An illuminated sunshade assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means for illuminating comprises a lamp positioned in said perforation so that light emitted by said lamp is directed into the edge of said perforation and is emitted from the edges of said hollow wedge.

illuminated sunshade assembly as set forth g V H H 7 References Cited 7, claim 5 wherein sald means for illuminating further UNITED STATES PATENTS comprises a battery, a toggle switch, and a generally rectangular shaped hollow housing having four sides and a top; saidlamp, battery, and switch being connected in 3,028,073 series and mounted in said housing, said switch being mounted in a side of said housing so that the toggle of NORTON ANSHER Primary Exammer said switch protrudes through said side. 11 S, STALLARD A i t E i 2,994,148 8/ 1961 End elson 240-2 XR 4/ 1962 Boxshall et a1 2402 XR 

